Early Mesopotamia Civilizations.
Mesopotamia is a Greek word that refers to the land between the rivers and this was used in Mesopotamia which was an area between the two rivers: Tigris and Euphrates. Mesopotamia is often referred to as the cradle of civilization. The history of Mesopotamia goes back to the time when urban centers started to grow in the South of Iraq at around 5th Millennium BC and is said to have ended when Islam Caliphate invaded the region. Mesopotamia in Bronze Age encompassed the Akkidians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumer empires. During the Iron Age period it was under Neo-Babylonian and neo Assyrian rule but it was later conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Until Mesopotamia was conquered by the caliphate, it was under the Persian rule. This paper will conduct an intensive research on the three main civilizations of Mesopotamia namely the Sumerians, Babylonians and the Assyrians.
The first settlements in this area according to Ascalone (58) occurred at about 8000years ago. Originally, these people were farmers and were much favored by this economic activity such that within a very short time they were selling their produce to other people. The places where trading activities were conducted developed into towns while others became cities. As time went by, they made some important technological inventions that made their work easier. Mesopotamia is the oldest place where organized settlement occurred and as a result of this, it was the first to build cities.
Their technological inventions were very vital in irrigating their farms, making written records, measuring time, producing food in mass, and construction of buildings as well as in improving transport. Mesopotamia was occupied by various groups in different historical periods and these epochs were characterized by different civilization, dynasties, gods, capital cities and languages. The first of these groups were the Sumerians, who settled in the Southern part and were the one who came up with the first civilization in the region at around 3500BC. (Bottero et al. 113)
After the Sumerians, there came another group known as the Akkadians in the period between 2334 and 2196BC. After this group, there came another one which settled in the North of Babylon city known as the Assyrians in the period between1900 and 539 BC. From 539BC all the way up to 651 AD, the leadership of the region switched hands to the Persian and Greek foreigners. They occupied the region and this marked the inception of the Islamic culture and civilization and put a full stop to the Mesopotamian civilization. (Ascalone 63-65)
This region was rich in raw materials such as clay, water reeds and Sand. They imported copper and tin to make bronze alloy. Some of the historic cities that were built in this region were Nineveh, Nippur, Babylon and Uruk. These cities were under different leadership and some of these leaders were the king of Ur, Ur-Namni, Sargon the founder of the Akkidan kingdom, Tiglath the founder of the Assyrian empire and Hamurrabi the founder of the Babylon state.
The first group to have lived in this place according to Bottero et al (194) was the Sumerians and they occupied the Southern region at around 3500BC. They lived in city states where their leaders constantly confronted one another. It is not known exactly where these people came from but it is believed that they might have been nomads who kept on moving from place to place looking for better grounds. These people build cities which were surrounded by a perimeter wall to protect the city from the invaders. Their farms were outside the city but they sought refuge from the city whenever they were attacked by their enemies.
According to Dowling, Sumerians were very innovative, rich and powerful. They developed architecture, ethical and religious thoughts and were also able to come up with various works of art. They were the ones who came up with the basic means of communication that was used in the next 2000 years in the whole of Middle East. This method of writing and communication was known as cuneiform and was originally used in clay works. Also the Sumerians had their own language known as the Sumerian.
Sumerians build rectangular cities and inside those cities there were avenues that were used for various reasons such as holding parades and for religious processions. They also build sloppy pyramid temples known as Ziggurats whose sides were terraced. At the top of these pyramids were the shrines for their chief god and goddess. People stayed in tangled lanes within the city while traders and carpenters conducted their businesses along these lanes. These trading activities attracted the rich to come to the cities to take part in trade. (Ascalone 119-122)
It is the Sumerians who invented the first wheeled vehicle although they are not the one who invented the wheel. They lived in independent city states where each leader sought to take control over other cities. People wanted those leaders that were courageous, resourceful and those that would protect them. The Sumerians societies were hierarchically organized. At the top there were the ruling families, high priests and the leading officials. At the middle, there were the merchants, scribes and the lesser priests but it is at the bottom that the majority of the peasants were found. They believed in polytheism and they worshipped them in temples known as Ziggurats where each temple served one god and it was the role of the people to keep these gods happy. (Bottero et al 203)
The Sumerian just like the Egyptians believed in life after death. According to Hooker, they had priests whose work was to study nature and to be particular the skies. They assessed the movement of the heavenly bodies and that was why they were able to develop their own calendar. They composed literatures and poems such as the epoch of Gilgamesh. (Dowling)
The other group that contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian civilization was the Babylonians. They occupied the region that was located at the south of Mesopotamia or what is today known as the Southern Iraq. It was occupied by the Amorites who spoke Semitic language. They modified it to Semitic Akkadian language and was the language that was used in offices. They had their own city known as Babylon which was created by Hamurrabi (1728-1686) BC. This territory was created from the former Sumerian territory and the Akkad Kingdom.
The Babylonian just like the Sumerians built temples using mud bricks and they were then supported with buttress. They used mud bricks because the region had no stones. Their usage of bricks led them to develop pillars and columns and later they came up with the ideas of making tiles. They painted their walls with different colors and then plated them with either gold or zinc. Much of their technology was inherited from the Sumerians. One difference between the Babylonians and the Sumerians was that the latter had many cities while the former had only one city.
Babylonian had only one leader while the Sumerians and the Assyrians had many leaders. All the three groups were part of the Mesopotamian civilization and this is where they all had a tie. Just like the Sumerians, the Babylonians had their own literature but much of it was borrowed from the Sumerians for example, the epic of Gilgamesh. Babylonians used the old Sumerian agglutinative language in religion and law matters. (Ascalone 125)
According to Ascalone (98), Babylonians used the work of others to advance theirs for example they went a step further to understand nature. Their astrologist tried to understand how the movement of heavenly bodies affected human beings. Unlike the Sumerians who were polytheists, the Babylonians were monotheist and had only one god known as Mandik They held several festivals and had different priests for example the exorcists and the diviners.
The third influential group that played a part in the civilization of Mesopotamia is the Assyrians. This group lived in the Northern part of Mesopotamia. They were ruled by different kings in different times. Their historic period is divided into three epochs the old middle and the neo Assyrian (911-612) BC. Just like the Sumerians, most of their culture is very original for example, they are the one who invented the art of weakening walls by digging underneath them, they also came up with the ideology of corps of engineers and they also invented the use of inflated skin to swim. It is them who invented the art of building bridges. They never had their own language in fact they borrowed some words from Akkadian people just like the Babylonians who borrowed Sumerian language. The Assyrian used theirs in liturgy and literature during the middle period but during the Neo Assyrian period their main language was the Akkadian. (Sayce 78-80)
Like Sumerians, the Assyrians were farmers and irrigated their land where there was no water. They were also miners and practiced forestry. These people lived in small villages unlike the Babylonians and the Sumerians who lived in cities. Just like the Sumerians, the Assyrians had traders who operated in the cities. Unlike Sumerians who had free leadership, the Assyrians practiced monarchy and their king was answerable to his court only. (Guisepi)The Assyrians kept expanding their territory through military operations. Although they had their own culture; they had also borrowed some from the Babylonians for example the cuneiform of writing which was used in clay works. They build houses using clay bricks just like what Babylonians did but theirs were one storied and flat roofed. They also made sculptures and curving just like those of the Babylonians who made three dimension carvings and wall carvings. (Sayce 78-84)
Indeed Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization. Much of the civilization we have today originated from this region. The three groups: Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians played a key role in making what is known as the Mesopotamian civilization. Each lived in a different period but they in a way complemented one another. For example Babylonians borrowed some things such as language, words and other cultures from the Sumerians and the Assyrians borrowed from the Babylonians. Mesopotamia is the first place to build cities in the world. It is also in this place that the first wheeled vehicle came from. Also the calendars that we use today originated from this region.
Works cited.
Ascalone, Enrico. Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007
Bottero J., Bahrani Z. and Van De Mieroop M. Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods. University of Chicago Press, 1992
Dowling, M. Sumerians. 2007. Available from
http://www.mrdowling.com/603-sumerians.html
Guisepi R. A. The History of Ancient Sumeria including its cities, kings, religions culture and contributions or civilization. 2003 Accessed at
http://history-world.org/sumeria.htm
Hooker R. The Assyrians (1170-612 BC). Jewish Virtue Library. Washington State University. 2008. Available at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Assyrians.html
Sayce A.H. Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and customs. Adamant Media Corporation
